


Crimson

by blackdragonhellfire



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Shazam! (2019), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: And Jericho's a little based off of his Teen Titans animated counterpart, Billy Batson Needs a Hug, Billy is slightly less emo than his movie counterpart, Bruce wayne needs to take a childcare course, Families of Choice, Freddy Freeman is the shit, Freddy is best boi, Friendship, Gen, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Movie Shazam in Comicverse, Post-Judas Contract, Post-Shazam, Post-Under the Red Hood, The Red Hood is edgy, cool bi friend, ft Jericho as cool gay friend, more heartwarming than you think it is, whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-03-17 08:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18961393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackdragonhellfire/pseuds/blackdragonhellfire
Summary: The Red Hood discovers a wrench in his new case, and needs assistance.Shazam just wants this guy with the Red Helmet to stop threatening his family, for God's sake!But fate isn't the only thing bringing the two together. An old enemy lays in wait, waiting for the chance to strike, and destiny says that two young men in Crimson will be the source of his defeat...(Featuring Batman, The Teen Titans, and the Shazamily)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a wish fulfillment fanfic I wrote for myself. I don't know if I'll finish it. But it was fun to write. So I'll post it, I guess. 
> 
> Hope you like it.

Jason was starting to really hate magic. Like, anyone could see that most of its practitioners were pretty good looking, but the stuff was just fucking with him at this point. And there was no way that he was going to go to the Justice League for this debacle. Nope. You couldn’t catch him within ten feet of Batman unless the guy was bleeding out slowly from a fatal wound and the newer, better Robin was crying over his dead body.

Damn fucking Batman.

Jason could almost believe that Batman would take the chance to avenge him, now that he knew he was back. But he was done deluding himself.

That clown would die at his hand, since good old Bruce wasn’t going to do jack shit. One way or another.

Might be a bit easier to kill him if he could solve this case first, since Batman wasn’t doing anything about the suicides. Like he ever did anything about Crime Alley in the first place. And if he tried to, Crime alley was the Red Hood’s territory, damnit, and he wasn’t going to let Batman shove into his affairs without a fight. He could do this by himself. He stopped needing Bruce’s help when Bruce just decided to up and replace him instead of avenging him.

Jason wasn’t a fool. These people weren’t killing themselves. Something was killing them. And it wasn’t an ordinary murderer, either.

It was something otherworldly.

All he needed was confirmation.

But who to go to, he thought. No one in the Justice League, which ruled out Zatanna. Damn, Jason thought. He would’ve liked to get under Dickie-Bird’s skin by flirting a bit with one of his old squeezes.

Bummer.

That left John Constantine, and that new hero guy that obviously had something to do with magic, judging by the videos on Hero Manager’s YouTube page. And John Constantine would have been pretty useful on this, but he couldn’t get in contact with the guy without talking to Zatanna. So that wouldn’t work.

But this new guy? From what Jason could see, this Captain Thundercrack or whatever his name was a pretty powerful dude. And he was righteous as hell. He was in kahoots with fricking Superman, of all people.  So he’d have to be pretty careful getting to him in order not to be killed. And it wasn’t like any sane superhero would want to ally with him willingly, so he’d definitely have to threaten this guy in order to get him to work with him.

Easy peasy. He’d had plenty of practice threatening the criminal underbelly of Gotham.

Time to do some research, then.

* * *

Billy was being chased again. But this time, it wasn’t the usual bully on the streets, chasing after him because he saved someone from them. Or maybe, because he was the guy being subjected to them. No, this time, it had to be some crazy Crime Lord guy from Gotham that Batman should have seriously kept there.

He had seen this guy on the news, back at the Vasquez’s. He was batshit crazy, even according to Freddy, who liked most guys in masks and costumes. But those guns? Damn.

He didn’t want him or any of his siblings near those guns. Even with the superpowers. That wasn’t the problem, however.

Billy was being chased by a guy in the most ridiculous looking red helmet he had ever seen. And like most guys in crazy helmets, he had guns. And on top of that, he wasn’t in superhero form right now.

Oh, shucks, he thought glumly.

This wasn’t exactly normal, but it wasn’t the weirdest thing that ever happened to him. That had to be the time with the magic mantises that acted like British gentlemen and had tea with him and his siblings. Or the giant flamingo monster they fought a week ago. Or maybe it was whatever was behind the doors back at Shazam’s lair.

Nope. This definitely wasn’t the craziest thing he’d ever done in his life. That probably went to becoming a superhero in the first place.

But thanks to that, Billy knew he’d be alright. With one magic word, he could put an end to this, and maybe even make the Red Hood stop freaking chasing him using the power of magic.

And maybe a well placed punch, but whatever.

But, he couldn’t exactly turn into the big red guy without giving up his secret identity to a freaking crime lord, so that was a no go.

Great, Billy thought sarcastically, just awesome.

He stopped in his tracks.

He usually wasn’t this impulsive, but this was his last chance to get out of this in time to get to bed before the Vasquezes noticed he was gone. And he was going to take it, damn it. He liked that place, even a bit begrudgingly, and he didn’t want them thinking he had run off when he had just settled in. Besides, he had pulled this trick on Policemen all the time! No big deal.

Maybe he wouldn’t need to call in the others for help, if all went well.

If it did.

But it would. He knew it.

* * *

Captain Thundercrack’s civilian identity stopped in front of the Red Hood, panting. That made this a lot easier.

When he was doing his research on this guy, he never would have guessed that the ever righteous Captain Sparklefingers was a fifteen year old foster kid with a less than pretty track record. Innocent, compared to his, but running away from that many homes was a feat in itself.

Both of them knew the streets, even if the streets here were nicer than Gotham’s. They both knew loneliness, and pain.

All the easier to convince him with.

The Red Hood raised his gun, and turned off the safety.

The kid in front of him paled, and stepped back, raising his arms in surrender.

“Hey, uh mister Red Hood! Um, is Red okay? Reddy? Hood?”

The Red Hood cocked his gun again.

The kid gulped.

“Red Hood it is, then!”

Jason cut to the chase.

“I know who you are, William Batson. Or, should I say, the hero Thundercrack?”

William Batson paled even more.

“I am going to kill Freddy for that name,” he muttered under his breath.

He glared at Jason.

“Yeah, I’m the Big Red Cheese, or whatever my manager calls me these days. Got a problem with it?”

The Red Hood almost rolled his eyes at this kid’s audacity. Reminded him of himself, honestly. He could respect that.

“You are going to help me with this case,” he said, “And if you don’t, Victor and Rosa Vasquez are the first to go.”

“Wait. What case?”

The Red Hood raised a questioning eyebrow behind the mask. Was this kid really doing what he thought he was doing?

“Did ‘I’ll kill all of your relatives’ spill it out for you, or not?”

This kid's cheeriness was really starting to grate at Jason's nerves.

“You know, I don’t think I’d mind if you killed some of my biological relatives. I have this great uncle, you see...”

What the hell was up with this kid? Was he even threatened?

“Your foster family, then.”

The kid glared at him, fists clenched.

"Don't threaten them."

Jason glared at him.

"I can do whatever I want to do, kid."

The kid raised his fists, and then dropped then in resignation. Good, Jason thought, he knew he wasn't going to win. But then Batson tensed and balled his fists again, and Jason raised his gun again in warning. 

"Nuh uh uh, kiddo."

The kid glared at him even harder.

“Fine. I’ll bite." Batson replied, venom in his voice, "But you gotta tell me what this case is, you know.”

The Red Hood turned the safety on his gun back on, and turned around, starting to walk away.

“And, you know, it’s way easier to get people to help you when you don’t go all gang-leader on them and just freaking ask, dude.”

Jason ignored him.

“Tomorrow, on top of Sivana industries at Seven PM," he replied. "Meet me.”

Billy blinked.

“Geez, fine. I’ll meet you. Just chill out, okay?”

The kid, instead of getting an answer, was greeted by an empty street.

* * *

“Geez, dude. That’s wild!”

Billy floated over a rooftop, legs crossed Indian style. It wasn’t everyday that he could find another hero to chat with in Philly that wasn’t the Justice League, after all, and he was going to take what he could get. If the Justice League wasn’t gonna recruit him, he’d totally join the Teen Titans. What’d Freddy say about there being no cool sidekicks, again? The Teen Titans were awesome!

Well, he’d only met this one guy, but he was pretty dope, so...

The young man next to him nodded meekly, and absently strummed the well worn guitar in his arms before setting it down on his lap and signing rapidly to his companion, hands telling the story of one of the Titan’s wild adventures. Billy was seriously glad for the Wisdom of Solomon now, since he knew that if he were in teen form right now, he’d have no idea what was going on.  

“Wait. Wait. Hold up,” Billy interrupted, “ _The_ Nightwing in a tutu? Seriously?”

Jericho smiled and nodded, covering his mouth meekly.

“Dude! I would have killed to see that. I mean, I’ve never met the guy, and if he has anything to do with Batman he’s probably scary as hell, but still. That’s freaking hilarious!”

Jericho strummed at the guitar at his lap, his blond curls stirring slightly in the breeze.

He nodded at his companion and smiled.

Billy could almost believe that this guy was around his age. He was a bit scrawny and delicate looking, but he had seen him in action. And this guy could crack him in half without breaking a sweat. Thankfully, he seemed too nice to use his freakily awesome possession powers on him, so Billy had nothing to worry about.

For now.

Jericho pointed at Billy, and touched his chin before touching his fingers together and waving them in a circle, finishing off his question by raising his eyebrows.

Billy laughed.

“Me? Stories? Man, I have tons of stories to tell! Like, yesterday, I was walking home, and the Red Hood of all people threatened me.”

Jericho raised an eyebrow.

“Yup. Bona fide Red Hood, judging by the stupid looking Red Helmet. Still, he scared the shit out of me! And now I have to meet him in like… an hour. Oh, crap.”

Jericho patted his back reassuringly.

“Yeah, I guess. But still, I’d rather be helping you on a case than this guy. I mean, you seem pretty cool, and you didn’t threaten me yesterday, so...”

Jericho put his fist on top of a flat palm, his thumb sticking out slightly, and moved it from his chest towards Billy.

“I’d love your help, dude. Seriously. But if this guy doesn’t trust me, he’ll kill everyone close to me. So, it may not be a good idea right now? You know?”

Jericho glared.

“You’re going to try to help me anyway, aren’t you?”

The mute nodded at him, eyes steely with determination.

Billy grimaced.

"You know, you really don't have to..."

Jericho gave him another look. 

"It's my problem, you know. I'll manage. I've managed worse."

Jericho raised a questioning eyebrow. 

This guy just wasn't backing down, was he? 

Billy gulped.

This wasn’t going to go well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason keeps running into members of the Shazam family.

Jason was starting to get really aggravated by this Thundercrack guy.

First, he was cheery as hell. Like, no one could be that cheerful, except maybe that fucker Grayson. So no, he didn’t exactly like cheery and jokey types. And secondly, Thundercrack was late. Sure, Jason was late to a ton of briefings when he was Robin, but someone being late while he was in charge?

Nope. Not cool.

“Hey, Hood dude!”

William Batson, in all of his heroic glory, floated over him, smile on his face.

He floated down slowly, and settled down by Jason.

“So… why Sivana industries? You know, with Thad Sivana and all…”

“Do you always ask so many questions?”

“Maybe?”

The Big Red Cheese crossed his legs, and leaned back,

“So, you know, sorry about being late today! I mean, I was hanging with a friend and trying to convince him not to follow me here and threaten you or something, so you can thank me now.”

“What friend? Your manager?”

“You’re so funny. It was another guy. Anyway…”

He cleared his throat.

“What’s the case about?”

“There’s been multiple occurrences of suicides in my area of Gotham. From what I can tell, it’s because of these guns. Red 1911 Colts. Real pretty things.”

And they were. If they weren’t linked directly to those suicides, he would’ve bought ‘em. But, they were hurting people, so they had to go.

“Of course you’d be obsessed with guns. Like any crazy guy in a Red Helmet wouldn’t be.”

Crazy? Jason was perfectly sane. Pretty messed up, sure, but he was sure that he stopped being totally insane a few months ago.

“So if you’ve already solved the case, why do you need me?” Batson asked, looking him in the eye.

“I need you to tell me if this case has something to do with magic.”

Batson laughed.

“Magic? Well, if you’re just looking at two guns that have made a bunch of people kill themselves. So, from what I can tell, they’re probably cursed to make their owners shoot ‘emselves. Not much to it, dude.”

Man, this guy was aggravatingly friendly. He wasn’t this guy’s best friend, so why the heck was this guy talking so much to him?

“So can you get rid of them?”

“Uh, Probably? I can’t get shot, so I’m probably immune to the curse. So yeah, I think I can.”

Jason nodded.

“Cool. So when do you wanna do it?”

Batson put a hand on his chin, deep in thought, and hovered above his seat in a manner which told Jason that he was doing it subconsciously.

“Can we wait a week? I have finals.”

Jason almost hit himself in the head.

What the actual fuck. Of all the excuses this guy could’ve made, it was finals. And while Jason would definitely make the same excuse if he still went to school, he didn’t think this guy was the type. At all.

“I mean,” Batson clarified, probably sensing his hesitance, “Well… if I don’t go to finals, my family will kill me. Like, Literally. Bye bye me type killing.”

The Red Hood sighed internally.

“Fine. You get your week.”

“Oh thank God.”

Captain Thundercrack noticed that he was hovering, and gently floated back down to his spot by Jason.

“So,” Batson asked, “You threatened my family because you wanted me to get rid of these guns for you?”

“Yup,” Jason replied, nonchalantly. Just so this guy would know who he was dealing with.

“‘Yup,’” Captain Thundercrack repeated, popping the P, “Never thought an edgy-ass guy like you had it in him to say ‘yup.’ Like dude, you need to take a few chill pills. Like maybe 20 or so.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Jason deadpanned.

“You’re welcome. I’m gonna go back to my house now… my manager is probably freaking out.”

God, what the actual fuck was this guy thinking?

William Batson floated above his head.

“You know, you acted waaay more chill in this meeting than I thought you would, buddy.”

Jason rolled his eyes.

“I could always just threaten you next time, asshole.”

“Sounds fun. Bye!”

* * *

“So, he calls me ‘Asshole’, like we’re best friends or something. And I don’t want the guy on my bad side, so I just roll with it, ya know? He’d probably be pretty cool if he just stopped being edgy for two seconds, honestly. So I don’t really care. That much.”

“Billy,” Freddy said, “You just made a deal.”

“Yuh huh?”

“With the flipping Red Hood.”

“Basically.”

Freddy sighed, and put his face in his hands, shaking his head.

“God dangit, Billy. Just… crap. Crap, dude. What if he comes after us or kidnaps Darla or something?”

Billy smiled at his manager.

“Than we stop him. Duh. But I don’t think he’ll come after us. He seems too… too, well, he wouldn’t not stick to his deals, from what I can tell.”

Freddy looked up at Billy.

“That was a double negative, you know.”

“It wasn’t not a double negative, dude.”

Freddy shook his head fondly.

“You’ve got more balls than I thought you’d have, bro.”

“Hey! I have plenty of balls, thank you very much. How else would I have stopped Sivana back in December?”

“With our help?”

“Yeah. True that. But I still did most of it!”

“I’m pretty sure that even Pedro did more than you did, bro.”

“I love Pedro, but that’s just offensive. Plus, of course Pedro did more than me, he’s swol as fuck!”

“That’s not a basis to judge the amount of work everyone did back then, you know.”

“Whatever. I don’t care.”

Billy leaned towards his foster brother, smirking.

“You know who I think did the least work against Sivana?”

Freddy leaned back towards him, so that their noses were almost touching.

“Who?”

Billy smirked wider.

“You.”

Freddy leaned back onto the bed, almost hitting his head on the bottom of other bunk bed in the process.

“You’re so funny, Captain Sparklefingers.”

Billy put his hand to his chest and gasped dramatically.

“That isn’t even one of the good ones, bro!”

“It’s still funny.”

“And I’m still going to get my revenge for it. Soon.”

Freddy smirked.

“Oooh. I’m so scared.”

Billy wiggled his fingers, and smirked back.

“Good. Be scared. Be very scared.”

“Boys!” A voice called from downstairs, “Dinnertime!”

“Coming!” they both called down at the same time.

“Jinx!” Freddy called, heading towards the door, “You owe me a soda!”

“Jinx doesn’t even count in this household, and you know it!” Billy yelled back, following his best friend out of their bedroom and towards the promise of food downstairs.

* * *

A few days later, Jason went back to Philadelphia.

He didn’t know exactly why this place had such a pull on him. Maybe because it was so peaceful, compared to Gotham. Especially if it managed to attract a bunch of Superman look-alikes, not a bunch of mini-Batmans or something like that.

He found himself on the roof of Sivana Industries again, staring up at the night sky and just thinking.

Damn it, he needed a smoke again.

He opened his belt and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it. A quick drag later, he was savoring the familiar feeling of Nicotine coursing through his veins.

“So, you do know that smoking is bad for you, right?”

A guy in a similar uniform to Captain Thundercrack floated next to him, arms crossed over his chest. However, instead of having a red uniform, this guy’s was a bright baby blue.

“Yup. Don’t care, though.”

“Well, I mean, you shoot people, right? So you probably don’t care about too much if you’re willing to do that.”

“I care about more than you think, kid.”

“Kid.”

The Guy in Blue scoffed.

“You know, judging from the distinct lack of stubble on your chin, you’re probably only like Billy’s age, right?”

Jason stubbed his cigarette, and pulled his helmet back over his face.

“Man, no wonder Billy said you were a hardcase. You barely even talk!”

Jason turned to look at him.

“Is everyone in your family so annoying?”

The Blue Guy smirked.

“You haven’t even met Darla yet!”

“Should I be threatened?”

“Nah. She’s a sweetheart.”

Captain Thundercrack’s brother sat next to him on the roof, just as William Batson had, just a few days prior. Which brother was it, again? He always got them all mixed up, for some reason.

“So,” the Guy in Blue asked.

“Huh?”

“You’ve met Batman.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Of course he just had to run into another fan of that man.

How naive.  

“Who hasn’t in Gotham?”

“Like everyone except for a few crime bosses and lucky citizens? And maybe Robin, but I don’t think he counts.”

Jason scoffed.

“The Bat’s not as awesome as you think he is, you know.”

“Uh, no offense, but I’m pretty sure he beat your butt like five times in the last six months. Which automatically makes him awesome.”

Jason growled.

“So then why is the Joker still alive?”

The Man in Blue leaned into his hand.

“You know what? That’s a good question. But still, Batman’s done wonders for Gotham City’s crime rate, despite all of the new supervillains that have popped up there.”

“But those supervillains are still out there, after all the shit they’ve pulled.”

“Yeah, but they do get put into that Asylum every once in a while.”

“And then they get out. Over and over and over again.”

The Man in Blue shook his head.

“You know, now that I actually have superhero experience, I’m pretty sure that someone seriously needs to build a better asylum in Gotham. Jesus. Like, there’s no way we’d let that happen here!”

“Or Batman actually needs to finish off his villains.”

The Man in Blue looked at Jason like he was Joker levels of crazy.

“Then he’d lose like all of his respect from the public!”

“Why the hell should he care about respect from the public? He should care about doing his job, not about his stupid moral compass that’s just getting more people killed!”

“You have pretty strong feelings about this, don’t you.”

Jason sighed.

“There’s a reason I picked up my guns and tried to clean up Gotham my way.”

“That’s true. But, I guess, if my brother trusts you enough to make a deal with you, I can say that if you ever need any help, just let us know.”

Jason rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think you’ll let me do my job my way. So I’ll have to pass.”

“We probably won’t. But six heads are better than one, and we can come up with some other way to clean up Gotham, right? We’ve managed here in Philly.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Philadelphia was completely different than Gotham, and both of them knew it.

“Philadelphia isn’t so different than Gotham, you know,” The Man in Blue replied, as if he was reading Jason’s thoughts, “We still have to deal with street crime and stuff, not just supervillains. Otherwise we wouldn’t be doing our jobs right, you know? We have to try to help everyone, not just a few people.”

Jason sighed.

“It’s still not going to work.”

“It will if we try hard enough. I mean, we have superpowers and Batman doesn’t, right?”

“Batman will kill me if I let other heroes into his city, you know.”

The Man in Blue smirked triumphantly.

“Then let us in, if you dislike him so much. What’s a better way to tick him off than that?”

“Killing his villains would piss him off enough. But, you know, that’s actually a good way to piss off the old man until I can get to that. So I’ll take your offer. For now. But there’s a few conditions I’m going to have to lay out.”

The Man in Blue stuck out his hand.

“Deal.”

Jason shook it.

“Looking forward to working with you, Mister Hood.”

Jason nodded his agreement, and turned away.

The Man in Blue flew off to God knew where, leaving a breeze in his wake.

The Red Hood pulled another cigarette out, and proceeded to light it.

It had been a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Jericho fans, he will come back in the next chapter. 
> 
> Also Freddy is pretty cool too, change my mind. 
> 
> Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy and Freddy like nerdy references. Jason likes a coffee and a good book. Jericho likes lattes and the Philadelphia scenery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got to write Freddy calling Billy "Billiam." Sadly, Khrysoprase did it first in their story 'Drown the Echoes Out,' which is like a whole caliber above this story. Like goddamn, is it good. 
> 
> I'm definitely not too sore about it. Nope.

Billy strode down the hallways, relishing in the sweet, sweet release of freedom that was soon to come. Usually, summer meant not having regular meals and having to wear the same ratty old red t-shirt for 3 days on end, but this year, he had hope. He had a home, and people who cared.

It was a nice feeling.

“Hey, Bill!”

Freddy ambled up to him, supported by his crutch, but still full of his usual cheer. 

“Freddy,” Billy said, holding in a sigh, “Dude. Bro. My man.”

“Yeah?”

“'Bill?'"

"Uh huh?"

Billy took a deep breath. 

"Seriously, dude?"

“But that’s what makes it so fun,” Freddy replied, “Eh, Buffalo Bill?”

Billy ignored him, and kept walking. 

“Bro! Seriously, though, there’s something that I’ve got to tell you about that deal with you-know-who…”

Billy smirked, knowing exactly what to say before he said it.

“I don’t think you’ve ever made a deal with Voldemort, Freddy. Otherwise, you’d be sporting a swanky tattoo on your arm and not a weird birthmark.”

Freddy looked at him in mock-offense.

“Hey! My birthmark is perfectly fine, thank you. And the tattoos are supposed to be scary, not lame like in the movies!”

“But they were dope in the movies!”

“That’s because you haven’t read the books, Billiam.”

Billy looked at Freddy with a deadpan expression.

“Wow,” he said, not breaking eye contact with his brother, “I can’t believe you resorted to doing that. Sabotage. Seriously?”

Freddy smirked at him. 

“That’s what you get for not reading the books.”

“Oy!” Billy replied, astonished. “I can’t help it that I’m a movie person!”

“A _lame_ person.”

“Ouch, bro. You wound me.”

He then proceeded to walk in front of Freddy, holding open the front door for him. 

Freddy smirked at him sardonically. Billy knew how much he hated when anyone held a door for him, but he felt like doing it anyway, sometimes. Just to tease him.

“What the gentleman, am I right?”

Billy scoffed. 

“Hell no! Ugh. Don’t talk about gentlemen and that shit, it reminds me of my shitty uncle’s dumb rich people parties. Eww.”

“Uncle Scrooge?”

“That’s the one,” Billy replied, putting one hand behind his head. “Evil Uncle Eb. What a dick.”

Freddy walked out of the door, and Billy let the door slam shut behind him. 

“You ever thought about turning into Captain Sparklefingers and arresting that asshole, one day?”

Billy let out a breath. 

“Nah. He’s not worth it. And, by that logic, you probably should have arrested the Red Hood like, a week ago.”

“Instead of making a deal with him? You’re probably right…”

Billy lit up like a christmas tree.

“Wait. Wait,” he said, smiling much too cheerily for someone who had just figured something out, “That was the deal you were talking about earlier! Not one with Old Voldykins!”

Freddy rolled his eyes. 

“Are you _really_ sure the Wisdom of Solomon actually applies to you? Cause it’s not looking like it is right now. ”

“Nope, not in Billy form. But I knew what you were talking about already. And besides! It helped the big red guy understand that cool guy from the Teen Titans I met like a week ago! Ish...”

“The cool mute guy with the Guitar?”

“Yupperino,” Billy replied, popping the P. He had a nasty habit of doing that, sometimes.

Freddy looked at him questioningly.

“You know, why not aim for the Justice League, instead of the sidekick league?”

“Sidekick league?” Billy gasped in mock horror, “They could beat our butts, in, like, two minutes. Tops!”

“Whatever,” Freddy replied, “But they’re still not as cool as the Justice League, and you know it.”

“Yeah. Maybe. But the Justice League has Batman, which brings down their cool factor quite a bit.”

Freddy scoffed.

“What’s so bad about Batman? He literally carries the entire Justice League on his shoulders, dude.”

“Didn’t you literally make an agreement with the Red Hood last week just to piss Batman off, though?”

Freddy sighed. 

“Okay, fine. Batman might be cool, ability wise, but his methodology sucks. Hood was right about that, definitely.”

Billy put his hand on his chin, thinking deeply.

“Don’t the Red Hood and Batman have similar abilities? So they should be equally cool, in your opinion.”  
  
Freddy glared at him.

“You know that’s not how my extremely accurate superhero skill scale works, dude. But I do agree that they both could use their abilities a lot better than they do. Like, seriously, Arkham Asylum? Why the frick does that still exist?”

Billy shook his head. 

“I can’t believe Gotham hasn’t torn down that building yet, honestly.”

“They did.”

“What?”

“In like 1970. But they rebuilt it when Batman popped up, for some reason.”

“Dammit. We were on the verge of greatness. We were this close!”

Freddy gave him a look.

“I didn’t think you even liked that movie, dude.”

“Hey! Rogue One mostly sucked, but the memes were funny! And Darth Vader was in it, so kudos to Disney for that.”

“No, the whole movie was great! What are you talking about?”

Billy smirked at him.

“How the originals are better.”

A car honked near where they were standing, and Victor’s red station wagon rolled up in front of them, already filled with their other siblings. 

“Hey!” Freddy replied walking towards the car, “I didn’t say the originals were bad or anything!”

Freddy slid into the car, and Billy piled in after him, closing the door behind him.

“You better not have,” he said, “Otherwise I might just have had to disown you.”

Freddy scoffed, and the station wagon went on its way.

* * *

 

Jason liked his coffee black.

It wasn’t something he used to like, back before he died, but now he relished in the bitter taste, because it distracted him from thinking about anything else than how horrible it tasted. But at least this cup of coffee was semi-decent, so he wasn’t complaining. And he wasn’t here for the coffee, anyway. 

He was here to spy on Billy Batson and his siblings. 

This cafe was apparently one that the Vasquez siblings would frequent after school, making it an optimal place to start getting more information on them. And besides, he was going to have to meet up with William Batson in a few hours, so he might as well enjoy a good book before then. 

Thankfully, he was smart enough to bring a copy of _Macbeth_. It wasn’t the old collection of Shakespeare works he had back at Wayne Manor, but it would do, for now. 

Damn, he missed that book. The footnotes in this book were just pure trash compared to the one in his old Shakespeare book. And besides, it didn’t have Alfred’s carefully hand-written notes from his time in college. It didn’t have use, or character. 

It was just a book. And that pissed him off. 

It would do for now, though. Because he was never going to read that old Shakespeare collection ever again.

He lost himself in Macbeth’s weaving storyline, just reaching the part about the murder of Banquo when he was interrupted by someone tapping  him on the shoulder. 

Jason whipped around, annoyed at having been disrupted. 

A slightly frail, skinny looking guy waved at him in greeting, his blond curls bouncing as he did so. A guitar was held to his back by a leather strap, which was adorned with little pins here and there. 

The guy pointed at the chair at the other end of his table, as if to ask if he could sit there.

“Yeah, sure,” Jason replied noncommittally, “Go on ahead.” 

The blond guy sat across from him, sipping from a brightly colored latte of some sort before putting his guitar on the ground beside him. 

Jason went back to reading, not caring about anything besides the blood on Macbeth’s hands and Banquo’s untimely demise, but something was niggling at the back of his head…

Why did that blond guy look so familiar? Jason could swear he knew him from somewhere….

Oh. 

He was a Teen Titan. One of Dickie-Bird’s precious pals. He had looked into the state of their team after he had died, just in case he had to run into them again because of Dickface’s martyr complex or some shit. 

Some shit, indeed. 

What the hell was Jericho of all people doing in Philadelphia, of all places? Why not stay in cozy old LA with his Titan pals instead?

Jason tried to focus on his book, but ended up failing miserably. So instead, he proceeded to try to collect some dirt on the guy sitting in front of him. 

“So,” he asked the other teen, “What brings you to good old Philly?”

Jericho smiled from across from him, and pulled out a notebook. Jason guessed that he probably just guessed that most people on the streets wouldn’t be able to understand what he was saying without it. 

Poor dude, Jason thought. But he didn’t want to pity a guy who was probably against his very existence.

Jericho finished writing and passed him the notebook, smiling softly. 

Jason took it, and read what he had to say, before passing it back. 

“The scenery, huh? You have a good point, it’s pretty damn nice around here. But what about those superheroes flying around?”

Jericho took his notebook back, and raised an eyebrow at him, before scribbling something down on his notebook. 

 _What about them?_ His handwriting read. 

Jason shrugged in response. 

“Eh, not really anything,” he replied, “But it’s probably pretty cool to see them around. It’s not like anyone in Gotham ever sees Batman at all, or anything.”

_You’re from Gotham?_

“Sadly,” Jason replied. 

 _I’ve heard it’s really nasty,_ Jericho wrote back.

“Well any rumor you’ve heard about that place is probably true. Especially the really nasty ones.”

Jericho cringed. 

Jason shrugged. 

“That’s life. But it’s still home, right?”

Jericho smiled, and shrugged back.  

Jason, meanwhile, berated himself. How was he so stupid as to give up where he was from to a Teen Titan, of all people? 

He was such a fucking idiot. 

Thankfully, the door opened, and his targets filed in, chatting with one another happily and ready to celebrate a school year well done. 

Two boys brought up the back of the group, one he obviously could identify as Billy Batson, and another boy with a crutch and a Superman shirt. Judging by the way he looked compared to his other siblings, Jason could bet that Superman boy was Captain Thundercrack’s brother in baby blue. 

Great. Two annoying teens, here to spoil his mood. 

Billy nudged his friend, and pointed not so discreetly at Jericho, whispering to the kid beside him. 

Jason rolled his eyes internally. What an idiot!

Jericho didn’t look up from his latte, sipping it intently, and Jason let out a sigh. He was depending on these kids to not jeopardize his mission. Especially by giving up their secret identities to the motherfucking Teen Titans, of anyone!

But that brought up another question: how did Billy Batson know Jericho? Or, rather, how did Captain Sparkler know him?

Jason would figure that out, but for now, he had to focus on his mission. 

But first, he had a play to finish. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm mixing in some of Comic!Billy canon into movie!Billy canon, so I added in Billy's crappy great-uncle and him living on the streets for a bit, not just running from home to home. For the movie people in need of an explanation: Billy's Great Uncle Ebenezer takes him in after his parents die and then throws him out after stealing all of his parent's money, which led to him living on the streets. I guess, in this canon, Uncle Ebenezer was one of his crappy foster parents. 
> 
> I'm also going with animated Teen Titans!Jericho's look because I like it... the muttonchops in the comics are no bueno. 
> 
> That's about it! Hope you liked this new update!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy and Jason get the first gun, Jason gets into a situation, and shenanigans ensue.

“Okay, Hood man,” The Big Red Cheese said, holding the crimson 1911 colt in one hand and the magazine that used to be in it in the other, “What do we do now?”

The Red Hood scoffed. 

“Put that somewhere where it won’t hurt anyone anymore. And then, you get the hell out of my territory.”

“Wait, What?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Get out.”

Billy grimaced. What had crawled into his pants and died this time?

“Uh, yeah, I don’t know about that.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know about that?” The Red Hood retorted. 

“What I said. I mean, we haven’t gotten the other gun yet!”

The Red Hood facepalmed. 

“Why are you still here?”

“Uh… because you need my help?”

“Didn’t I just tell you to leave?”

“Yeah?”

“So why aren’t you gone?”

“Because I think my brother would kill me if I didn’t go back without at least meeting Batman.”

“The Blue brother?”

“Yup.”

The Red Hood sighed.

“I’m fairly sure that particular brother has a few screws loose.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

The Red Hood turned towards him. 

“I’m not insane,” he barked angrily, “Got that?”

“You know, that’s what every loony says.”

“Fuck you.”

The Red Hood turned around, and walked away.

“Yeah, no,” Billy called after him, “I like my guys slightly less edgy. Sorry.”

“And get out!” The Red Hood called back. 

Billy obliged. Just because he had bullet immunity didn’t exactly mean he liked getting shot up by psychos in red helmets. 

“See ya!” he yelled back to the Hood from his place floating above the street, waving cheerily.

The Red Hood just flicked him off, and kept walking.

* * *

Jason sighed, and put his face in his hands. 

For some reason, Captain Sparklefingers was turning over every expectation that he had of him. After all, him and his crazy-ass brother were even more batshit than some of Gotham’s villains, by volunteering to help him clean up Gotham. His way. 

What the hell was up with these kids?

Somehow, despite his past and his current situation, Billy Batson managed to be a beacon of light to the people who looked up to him. He smiled, he joked, he laughed. He enjoyed himself, and gossiped with his brother. He worried about finals, and cared deeply about his family. 

How had his experiences not wrecked him?

Jason knew that foster care life wasn’t cushy. He knew that running away from foster homes meant living on the streets until someone found you and made you go back to a home. He had met a few of those kids back when he was on the streets, himself. 

Billy Batson was surprisingly street smart, despite the way he acted. He knew what he was doing, and seemed unfazed by the darkened bowels of Crime Alley Gotham had to offer, despite only seeing the comparably nicer areas of Philadelphia's rougher neighborhoods. 

And Jason Todd was envious of Billy Batson, and he knew it. 

He sighed, taking out a cigarette and twirling it around in his fingers, too tired to root around in his little hideout and find the damn lighter. 

Why had this kid not fallen apart from the shit that he had been put through? How come Jason had? What did this kid do to get so lucky, while Jason had only gotten the shittiest hand life had to offer him?

Jason stood up, and put his cigarette on his crappy nightstand, before moving to the other side of the room.

He opened his closet, and grabbed his gun belt, strapping it on with purpose. 

The Red Hood had territory to protect.

* * *

“Dude dude dude,” Freddy said, as soon as he spotted Billy climbing through the window, “How was Gotham?”

“Smoggy. And dirty. Yuck.”

“And?”

“And what? It’s just sort of like any nasty street you’d encounter here, honestly. Dunno why people keep saying Gotham’s streets are worse than Philly’s streets. They aren’t.”

“Huh.”

Billy shrugged bonelessly. 

“Yeah.”

Billy sat on his bed, staring at his feet with empty eyes, and Freddy walked up to him, sticking his face into Billy’s space. 

“Did you see Batman?” Freddy whispered curiously.

“Nope.”

“What! Billy!”

“What? You don’t even like the guy that much anymore!”

“He sucks, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want a Batarang!”

“You have one.”

“It’s only a replica, dude! And you know it.”

Billy sighed. 

“Freddy, I’m tired, okay? I’m gonna hit the sack.”

Freddy sighed. 

“Are you sure I shouldn’t have gone with you, dude? I know you don’t really like being reminded of all that…”

Billy flopped down on his bed. 

“I can manage. I’ve managed for years.”

“I know, but you shouldn’t have to, dude.”

Billy sighed again, and turned over on his mattress, snuggling himself deeper into the covers.  

“‘Night, Fred.”

“Whatever, sleepyhead. Goodnight.”

* * *

Jason, unsurprisingly, found himself in trouble. Again. 

 _Fuck,_ he thought. _Just...fuck._

He grunted and pulled away from his captor’s iron grip, stepped on the man’s toes and the tender junction between his foot and his ankle, but the arm around him wouldn’t budge. 

“Let. Me. Go!” he cried, desperate. 

“No,” the Batman said from behind him, “Jason. You need to stop.”

“What do you care?” He yelled. “You’ve never done jack shit about Crime Alley in all of the time you’ve been running around in that damn chicken-suit! What do you expect me to do, sit around and do nothing?”

“No,” Batman replied, “I don’t.”

“Then why the hell are you stopping me from giving these fuckers what they deserve?”

“We don’t kill, Jason. You know the rule.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not part of ‘we’ anymore. So tell your stupid rules to fuck off, got it?”

“Jason…”

“No. You - you replaced me, old man! Don’t expect me to fucking listen to you!”

Jason stomped on his captor’s foot once again, catching Batman by surprise. Then, he  elbowed him as hard as he could in the gut, and stormed off. 

“Jason.” Batman growled, “Stand. down.”

Jason turned around to face the man who had once been his mentor, his partner, his father. He could feel the tears in his eyes building up from behind the helmet, and he took a deep breath, trying to repress them. He would not cry. He could not cry, especially in front of Bruce Wayne. 

“No. No. You -”

Jason took another deep breath, trying to calm himself, but the whirlwind that was his emotions had already begun to rage. 

“I thought of you as my father, Bruce. My father. Willis didn’t do jack shit for me, and you know it. But you only thought of me as your toy soldier. A puppet for amusement.”

Bruce sighed and looked at his feet. 

“Jason… I’ll admit that-”

“Don’t admit anything. You don’t have to. I know what you’re going to say. You’re just going to say the same fucking empty platitudes over and over again until we stop meeting.”

Batman sighed. 

“Jason…”

“And you know what the worst part is, Bruce? It’s that now my replacement has to deal with all of your shitty apologetics and fake promises. I almost feel bad for him.”

Batman stayed silent. 

“Take your rules with you, Bruce. I’m done with your shit.”

Jason fired a grappling hook into the night air, and hopped off the roof without another word. 

* * *

Billy had no idea why he was back here. 

Underneath him, the lights of Gotham City’s downtown filtered through the city’s smoggy air, casting the city in dim lighting. The darkness, both metaphorical and physical, was what Gotham was known for, twisting its citizens beyond repair. 

This was only Billy’s second time in Gotham, and he didn’t feel any more twisted than he already was.

Billy flew lower, and attempted to spot the gleam of a familiar red helmet. 

He sighed internally. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t dealt with Gang Leaders before the Red Hood. Well, he did mostly try to avoid them when he was living on the streets, but running into gangs was inevitable. They had tried to recruit him, beat him, and extort what little money he had left. But despite that, there was a point in his life when he had to go to the gangs for money. He didn’t want to steal from people, and he definitely didn’t want to borrow from a fucking gang, but he was stuck. 

It was that or die. 

And that was ironic, since now he was technically working for a gang without getting paid. At all. 

Why was he here, again? He could have been at home, playing video games with the guys, getting bedazzled by an overeager Darla, and planning out the rest of what was shaping up to be the best summer ever. So why the hell did he decide to go after some shitty gang dude that had threatened his family, asked for his help, and then promptly sent him away?

Maybe it was because of the second gun. Maybe it was because he wanted a reason for why the Red Hood had told him to get lost. The job wasn’t done, after all, and that gun was still around, killing innocent people.

Billy floated around the area he now knew to be Crime Alley. If there was any area in the city that the Red Hood would be at, it would probably be the heart of his territory. 

But then he spotted the woman running. 

Underneath him, there was a thin, battered woman running from a host of bigger men, ducking and dodging and using her thin stature to get away. But, even then, Billy knew she wouldn’t last. 

They never did. But this woman would, if he had anything to say about it. 

He floated down in front of the men, arms crossed in front of him.

“Hey!” he yelled, “What’s up with you guys chasing innocent women around during the middle of the night? Huh?”

The men just laughed at him. 

“Why should I listen ta some guy in tights, eh?” what looked like the leader of the men said, a mangy one with a missing front tooth. “We gotta job to do, Mister Know-It-All. Ain’t none of your damn business!”

“Yeah, well…” Billy replied, “You just made it my business. Sorry.”

“Is that supposed to scare us, little man?” Mangy man said, laughter in his voice.

Billy touched down, about to knock these guys out, when a gunshot rang throughout the alley. 

One of the men screamed and curled into his chest, hand on the gushing wound in his side. 

“Yes,” a voice rang out from the alley, “It is.”

Three more shots rang out, and the remaining men fell to the ground, blood spilling onto the pavement.

The Red Hood stood at the edge of the alley, pistol smoking in his hand. 

Billy looked at the men on the ground, and then at the Red Hood. 

“Uh… don’t you think that was a bit extreme?”

The Red Hood grunted. 

“Why the fuck are you here, Thundercrack?”

Billy ignored the name. 

“Well, we still need to find that second gun, right?”

The Red Hood turned around, and holstered his gun. 

“Not right now.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve had a long ass day kid, and I really don’t want some cheery Superman look alike making it even longer. Go. Home.”

Billy narrowed his eyes. 

“There’s something going on with you, Hood. You gonna tell me what it is, or am I just going to have to figure it out on my own?”

“Go home, kid. I won’t tell you twice.”

“Nope.”

The Red Hood stayed silent.

“Well, I didn’t fly all the way to Gotham just to get sent away again, dude,” Billy said,  "Sorry, but I’m staying.”

But the Red Hood had already disappeared. 

“Hey!” Billy called, looking around for any sign of a red helmet, but finding nothing. 

He sighed. 

Taking to the air, he spotted the red helmet with ease, and sidled along next to him. 

“Look man,” Billy said, “I know I shouldn’t even ask, but some good people made me realize that sometimes you just have to butt into other people’s problems if you want them to be okay. I mean, I don’t know if I want you to be okay, but are you okay?”

The Red Hood stopped running. 

“It’s none of your business, Batson,” the Hood responded, “You probably wouldn’t even understand, anyway.”

“Oh?” Billy countered, “Try me. I bet I can.”

“You wouldn’t. Just leave, okay?”

“Nope.”

The Red Hood turned towards him, and Billy could almost see the disbelieving expression behind his helmet. 

“I’ve heard I can be quite stubborn,” Billy said matter of factly.

The Red Hood grunted. 

“Why do you care about what’s going on with me?” The Red Hood asked angrily, “I’m a fucking gang leader. A killer. The scourge of the earth. What does it matter if anything’s wrong with little old me? I’d be better off dead, anyway. ”

“I don’t think you’re that bad, dude.”

The Red Hood scoffed. 

“No, really,” Billy continued, “Freddy told me about that deal you made with him, and from what I can tell from that, you really care about Gotham and its people. Not just yourself, or what you could gain from being a gang lord. So I don’t think you’re too bad of a guy.”

“Sure you do,” the Red Hood responded, “You’re some goody two shoes type. Don’t fucking lie to me. I know you don’t like me.”

Billy sighed.

“Well, you did threaten my family and all that jazz, but somehow, I guess, I figured out that you’re not as bad as I thought a crazy guy with a gun in Gotham would be.”

The Red Hood laughed bitterly. 

"I guess I am crazy, huh."

“Yeah, pretty much," Billy replied, "But that doesn’t make you a bad dude.”

The Red Hood sighed. 

“Do you realize just how fucking stupid you sound?”

“Yeah, I do. But what I’m saying is true. So stop moping, okay?”

“Whatever.”

Billy stayed quiet, and the Red Hood didn’t see any reason to break the silence around him.

“So,” Billy said, five minutes later, “You feeling better now?”

The Red Hood didn’t respond, since he had disappeared from his spot and into the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I made the characters a little too OOC at the end but...


End file.
